A man opened fire inside a licensed home daycare in Hopkins, Minnesota, killing a woman and a child before turning the weapon on himself, leaving six other young children inside the residence unharmed. The attack unfolded at Brown Bear Childcare, an in-home program operating out of a two-story house at 236 Tyler Avenue North, according to reporting on the facility's location.
Hopkins police said a man killed a woman and a child at the home daycare the two had operated together before killing himself, according to WFTV. Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson said the department did not confirm the exact relationship between the three people involved, though the station notes that per KMSP, the three were believed to be family members. Investigators also have not said how the three people died, and police are still trying to determine a motive, per NBC News reporting cited in the same account.
The 911 call came from a parent who arrived at the daycare to drop off a child and witnessed the attack beginning to unfold, according to the Associated Press. Six children were being cared for at the daycare when the incident occurred, and all six were later reunited safely with their parents. A neighbor across the street told the AP that police tried to break down the home's front door before surrounding the residence, calling for crime scene tape, and carrying young children out to safety.
An Emotional Toll on First Responders
Chief Johnson described the horror of the scenario for parents who believed they were leaving their children in a safe place. Dropping off a child somewhere believed to be safe and then receiving a phone call about the incident is the worst scenario, Johnson said, according to WFTV's report. The department has not detailed the weapon used or released the identities of those killed, and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner has not publicly confirmed formal identifications, per the same reporting citing NBC News, which also described the incident as isolated.
State licensing records show Brown Bear Childcare was first registered on February 1, 2019, as an in-home Family Child Care program licensed for up to 10 children, and it maintained a clean compliance record through state reviews in 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to the Associated Press. In Minnesota, in-home family child care providers caring for children from more than one unrelated family are monitored by county agencies on behalf of the state, which require background checks, CPR training and health inspections, per the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families.
Homicides Are Rare in This Minneapolis Suburb
Hopkins is a suburb of Minneapolis with about 18,700 residents where violent crime rates have historically remained well below national averages, and homicides are extremely rare, the AP reported. FBI crime data cited in that reporting shows the city's violent crime figures are significantly lower than the national average, underscoring how unusual an event like this is for the community.
The tragedy also lands amid a troubling statewide trend. At least 31 Minnesotans died as a result of intimate partner violence in 2025, a nearly 30% increase from 2024 and one of the highest annual totals recorded since tracking began in 1989, according to MPR News, which cited figures from the coalition Violence Free Minnesota. In Hennepin County alone, nearly 7,200 domestic violence incidents were reported in a single year, prompting county commissioners to declare October 2025 Domestic Violence Awareness Month to expand support services, per Hennepin County.
The Link Between Domestic Abuse and Child Safety
Researchers have long documented overlap between domestic abuse and risks to children. State child welfare research shows a 30% to 60% co-occurrence rate between domestic abuse and child welfare cases in Minnesota, with a 2024 state report finding domestic violence present in 52% of severe child maltreatment cases, according to the Minnesota Children's Alliance. Exposure to domestic violence is recognized as causing severe trauma in young children even when they are not physically harmed, the group notes.
Hopkins police have not said whether they consider the case closed, and investigators are continuing to work to determine what led to the killings. Minnesotans facing domestic abuse or a mental health crisis can reach the statewide 24-hour Day One hotline at (866) 223-1111 or by texting (612) 399-9995, in addition to the national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, according to Violence Free Minnesota.
